Integrated Plant Nutrient Management (IPNM) in Bangladesh

Introduction

Bangladesh lies between 20034/ and 26038/ north latitude and 88001/ and 92041/ east longitudes and as a
consequence falls in the north eastern part of the south Asia. The land area of Bangladesh is about 147,570
sq. km including inland and estuaries water surfaces. The country is bordered by India in the west, north
and east except for a small portion in the south-east by Myanmar. The entire south of the country is
occupied by the Bay of Bengal. The territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles and the area of high seas,
extending to 200 nautical miles measured from the base line, constitutes the economic zone of the country.
Although Bangladesh is a small country in area, the coastline is about 710 km. long with the world’s
longest sea beach in Cox’s Bazar.

The country is located as an interface of two different environments- the Bay of Bengal to the south and the
Himalayas in the north. The country has conveniently been divided into three broad physiographic units
belonging to three distinct geological ages: (i) Tertiary hills occupying 12% area of the country (ii)
Pleistocene terraces covering 8% area and (iii) Recent floodplains spreading about 80% area of the country.
Bangladesh is more or less a compact land mass and sits astride the tropic of cancer covering a total of 14.7
million hectares, of which 7% is occupied by permanent water bodies. Ground slopes of the country extend
from north to south and elevation ranges from 60 m mean sea level at the northern boundary to 1 m at
coastal area in the south.

Bangladesh is mainly a riverine country criss-crossed with about 310 rivers constituting a total length of
about 24,140 km. The Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, which together form the largest
river network in the world. These rivers carry a total of approximately 1250 million units of water
per year, 93% of which flows into Bangladesh from India, the origin of the rivers. These rivers
also carry huge sediments every year, a considerable portion of which is deposited on the vast
floodplains of the country making the land suitable for cultivating different crops.

Agriculture in Bangladesh contributes greatly to improve food security, employment and

livelihood. But the Net cultivable area of agriculture is shrinking everyday owing to non-
agricultural use. During 1971, net cultivable area was 8.43 million hectares. It has drop down to
7.79 million hectares. On the other hand, the cropping intensity has increased significantly due to
high demand for food production. Cereal production has increased from about 10 million tons in
1970 to about 30 million tons at present. The rapidly growing population exerts considerable
pressure on scarce natural resource of the country. According to the population census 2011, the
population of the country was 142.319 million which 2.04% of the world population is.
Bangladesh is the twelfth most densely populated country with a density of 988 people per sq. km.
The average population growth rate is about 1.34% during the period of 2001-2011 indicating that
about two million people are added every year with the current population. The projected
population for the 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050 would be 169.54, 189.85, 205.13 and 217.54
million respectively and the estimated food specially rice and wheat requirements would be 25.94,
27.632 and 32.377 million tons (Ministry of Agriculture, 2007). So, there is an urgent need of
more efficient and sustainable agricultural production system by intensifying sustainable crop
production.

The country is blessed with a climate which is favorable for the cultivation of wide range of both
tropical and temperate crops. Rice is the dominant crop grown in three distinct rice growing
seasons namely, `Aus’ (April to August), `Aman (July to November), and `Boro’ (December to
May). In Bangladesh, it is cultivate on 11.35 Mha of land to produce 45.69 Mt paddy equivalents
to 31.98 Mt milled rice. The people of Bangladesh consume about 6.50% of the global
consumption. There are also three growing seasons for other crops in the country. They are: `rabi
(dry season), `Kharif 1’ (transition between dry and wet seasons) and `kharif 11’ (wet season). The
extent and production of major crops grown in the country are presented in Table-1.

Wheat, oilseed crops, most pulses, potato, etc. are grown as rabi crops. Jute is grown as kharif-1
crop and maize, chili, groundnut, mungbean, etc. are grown both rabi and kharif-1. A

Table-1. Areas and production of major crops of Bangladesh (2009-2010)

Crop Area Production

(Mha) (Mt)*
Rice (oryza sativa)
Total Aus 0984 1.709
Aus (Local) 0.337 0.393
Aus (HYV) 0.647 1.316
Total Aman 5.663 12.207
Local Transplant (L.T.) Aman 1.414 2.237
Aman (HYV) 3.773 9.404
B. Aman 0.476 0.567
Total Boro 4.707 18.059
Local Boro 0.107 0.215
HYV Boro 3.917 14.622
Boro Hybrid 0.686 3.222
Total Rice 11.354 31.975
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) 0.376 0.901
Maize (Zea mays L.) 0.152 0.887
Potato (Solanum tuberosum) 0.435 7.930
Gram/Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) 0.007 0.006
Lentil (Lens culinaris) 0.077 0.071
 Mungbean (Vigna radiate) 0.023 0.020
Blackgram (Vigna phaseolus) 0.032 0.028
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) 0.034 0.53
Rape & Mustard (Brassica campestris/Brassica juncea) 0.242 0.222
Chillies (capsicum annuum) 0.087 0.109
Onion (Allium cepa) 0.118 0.872
Garlic (Allium sativum L.) 0.037 0.164
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) 0.118 4.491
Jute (Corchorus oliterius/Chororus capsularis)* 0.416 0.916
Source: BBS. 2010. Summary of Crop Statistics, 9(1 bale = 180 kg)

Constraints in Sustainable Crop Production Intensification:

Scarcity of Land Resources
The total area of the country is about 14.84 Mha of which 3.60 Mha (24.26%) of total area) is not
available for agriculture. This land is occupied by scattered homesteads, urban centers, industries,
educational institutions and inhabited lands. At the time of independence during 1971 the net
cropped area of the country was 8.24 Mha and reached 8.85 Mha in 1987 with a cropping intensity
of 150.73% although the net cultivated area (NCA) declined to 7.94 Mha in 2009, the total
cropped area increased to 14.41 Mha. This increase is attributed to the increase in double and
triple cropped areas. During the last decade on annual average decline rate in NCA is 0.735%
which is more than 57.8 thousand hectares per year.

A large areas that were nto available for cultivation or classified as cultivable waste (0.23 Mha).
Most of these lands were barren, with very limited vegetation. Currently, the forests occupy more
than 17% of the land area. Of the arable land area (8.24 Mha), 28.40% is single cropped, 47.57%
double cropped, 15.53% triple cropped and 8.50% is cultivable waste and currently fallow land
(Table 2). The cropping intensity has now reached 185.89%.

Table-2. Land Utilization Statistics (BBS, 2011)

Land Utilization Type Area % Total % Arable Land
(Year 2008-2009) (Mha) Area (8.24 Mha)
Total area 14.84 100
Not available for cultivation 3.60 24.26
Forest 2.60 17.52
Cultivable waste 0.23 1.55 2.79
Current fallow 0.47 3.17 5.70
Single cropped area 2.34 15.77 28.40
Double cropped area 3.92 26.45 47.57
Tripple cropped area 1.28 8.62 15.53
Net cropped area 7.94 53.50
Total cropped area 14.41 97.10
Scarcity of Water Resources

During 1999-2009 the annual average growth of irrigated areas was 4.74%. Currently, total minor
irrigation command area is 6.36 Mha. More and more areas are being irrigated with groundwater,
as it is the major source of irrigation in Bangladesh. Groundwater is abstracted through deep tube-
wells (DTW) and shallow tube-wells (STW) while, surface water is lifted by low lift pumps and
traditional methods. Of the national irrigation coverage, groundwater and surface water covers
77% and 23% percent respectively. About 70.0% of the total irrigated areas are covered by Boro
rice grown during January-May. The source of irrigation is groundwater (54%) and surface water
(16%). About 9.02%, 5.24% and 5.25% of the total irrigated areas are covered by aman rice,
wheat, and potato respectively. Rest of the crops including vegetables, sugarcane and other crops
cover only about 11% of the irrigated area.

At present, the amount of pumping of groundwater from the aquifers greatly exceeds the amount
of recharge resulting in lowering of groundwater levels at alarming rates. Groundwater is available
at comparatively shallow depths during August-October (at the end of the rainy season) and at
deep depth during April-May, i.e., at the end of the dry season (Ali, 2010).

Environmental Hazards

The country is vulnerable to many environmental hazards, including frequent floods, droughts,
cyclones, and storm surges that damage life, property, and agricultural production.

Floods

Flooding during the monsoon season from June to October is common. It Bangladesh, about 80%
of the land area is flood-prone. Normally, 22% of the land is inundated every year. Usually, the
flooding depth varies from 30 cm to 2.5 mm. More than 80 percent of the cultivable land is
affected by floods, droughts cyclones, and tidal-surges. Among these, floods are the most
detrimental to the social and economic well being of the country.

Floods in Bangladesh have been categorized into early-flooding which occurs during mid-June to
mid-July, normal-flooding which occurs during mid-August to mid-September and late-flooding
which takes place between mid-September and late October. Among these, early-flooding is the
most damaging even though its areal extent is small compared to the other categories because
people are unprepared for them. The extent of normal-flooding is very large, but the amount of
damage is small. Late-flooding causes moderate damage and the extent is small. The nature and
causes of floods are varied; therefore, the magnitude of damage varies with timing, location and
intensity.

Drought

Like floods, occurrence of droughts is also annual event. During the kharif and rabi seasons 2.20
million hectares and 1.2 million hectares, respectively are affected by droughts of varying
intensities. Until now, ten severe droughts and seven moderate droughts occurred in Bangladesh.
A severe drought could be as dangerous as a major flood or cyclone. Food grain production could
be drastically reduced as a consequence of a drought.

Highland and medium highlands are most suitable for transplanted HYV aman rice cultivation. If
early drought occurs then transplanting of aman rice is delayed. Consequently the harvesting of
the crop is also delayed. As a result the farmers cannot plant the rabi (dry season) crop. Hence the
land most often remains fallow after T.Aman. Early drought retards tillering and vegetative
growth which in turn reduces the achievable yield of the crop. Maximum susceptibility factor of
T.Aman is during heading, panicle initiation and milking periods. Thus, drought in the later
growth period of T.Aman may cause very large yield reduction.

During rabi growing period, the rate of evapo-transpiration exceeds mean monthly rainfall.
Rainfall is erratic during pre-Kharif period. Land type and soil texture are also other important
determinants for soil moisture situation. In light textured soil with high infiltration rate, rabi crops
are more vulnerable to moisture stress. Rabi crops frequently suffer from moisture stresses from
mid-stages of growth.

Tropical Cyclone

Tropical cyclones are important features of the weather and climate of south Asia. The major
cyclogenesis of this region exists in the northern Indian Ocean, which particularly affects
Bangladesh and parts of India. IPCC (2001) indicates, it is likely (60-90% chance) that there
would be an increase in tropical cyclone peak wind over some areas of this region. In Bangladesh,
cyclone occur during the period from mid-April to mid-November.

Water Logging

The growth of most crops is affected when the high water table causes the root zone become
wetter than the field capacity. The excess water due to water logging and the resulting wet root
zone can lead to some serious diseases in the root system and the stem. Working on too wet soil
can destroy its structure, restrict root growth and affect drainage further.

The chemistry and microbiology of waterlogged soils is altered due to the absence of oxygen. This
can result in changes and affect the availability of many nutrients. For example, nitrogen can
undergo de-nitrification more readily and be lost to the atmosphere as a gas. The anaerobic
(reducing) environment may bring changes in the available metals and other cations that can cause
deficiencies or toxicities. Sulfide, ferrous and manganese ions may accumulate in waterlogged
soils. Tolerances to water logging and a high water table vary with crops as well as with soil
texture. Some crops, such as rice and sugarcane, are largely tolerant but crops like chili and onion
are very much susceptible to water logging.

Soil and Water Salinity

Bangladesh has vast coastal areas covering about 20 percent of the country with 710 km coastline
along the Bay of Bengal. More than 30% of the cultivable land is in the coastal area. Out of 2.86
Mha of coastal and offshore lands about 1.056 Mha of lands are affected by different degrees of
salinity. Of the 151 Upazilas (sub districts) in 19 coastal districts, 93 Upazilas under 18 districts
are affected by salinity.

As the cropping intensity and crop yields in the coastal zones are well below the country average,
the contribution of agriculture sector is not proportional to its land mass. The reason behind this is
unfavorable agro ecological conditions of the region. These include coastal flooding in the
monsoon and higher levels of soil salinity in the winter. The higher water salinity in winter
reduces its potential for irrigation.

Crop yields decrease linearly with increasing salt levels above a given threshold level. Threshold
level varies according to the tolerance of the crop. Yield decreases in absence of boron are mainly
due to difficulties of the crop in taking up water due to the high concentration of salt in the soil
solution. In high salt soils, often crops present d droughty or dry appearance due to osmotic
potential related stress.

Climate Change

Climate changed is now a reality. It is showing its effects through increasingly erratic behavior.
Climate change will exacerbate the environmental hazards as mentioned by IPCC (AR4, 2007).
The Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (2007) considers agriculture and water as the most
susceptible sectors to climate change-induced effects in Asia. Agriculture is one of the most
vulnerable systems to be affected by climate change in the South Asian region. Agricultural
productivity in this region is likely to suffer severe losses because of high temperature, severe
drought, floods, and soil degradation.

According to the IPCC, Bangladesh will be one of the worst victims of climate change. Sea level
will be increased due to rise in temperature and the frequency of cyclone-storms will also be
increased. As a result, food security will be in jeopardy and different types of natural calamities
will put lives at risk. On top of these, high population density will make the problem more serious.

The people of Bangladesh have been adapting to the risks of floods, droughts and cyclones for
centuries. Heavy reliance of rural people on agriculture and natural resources increases their
vulnerability to climate change. Therefore, supporting rural and urban communities to strengthen
their resilience and adaptation to management, climate change and other related issues in
agriculture are cross cutting in nature. All the sub-sectors of agriculture are vulnerable to natural
hazards, shocks and stresses. Although, all the sub-sectors might not be affected equally, but it is
likely that some would be more susceptible.

Fertilizer Use in Bangladesh

Commonly used inorganic fertilizers in Bangladesh include urea(for N), ammonium sulphate (for
N and S), triple super phosphate (TSP - for P, Ca and S), single super phosphate (SSP – for P, S
and Ca), di-ammonium phosphate (DAP – for N, P and S), muriate of potash (MP – for K0,
potassium sulphate (for K and S0, magnesium sulphate (for Mg and S), zinc sulphate (for Zn and
S), zinc oxide (for Zn), manganese sulphate (for Mn and S), gypsum (for S and Ca), ammonium
molybdate (for N and Mo), solubor, borax and boric acid (forB) (BARC, 2012).

Inorganic fertilizers were introduced in Bangladesh during the early fifties as a supplemental
source of plant nutrients. But their use started increasing steadily only from the mid sixties along
with the introduction and expansion of modern varieties accompanied by the development of
irrigation facilities. The increasing trend of fertilizer use in terms of their sales, particularly the
urea-N still continues (Table - 3). Until 1980, three major plant nutrients (N, P, K) along with one
secondary major nutrient (Ca) were supplied from fertilizer to Bangladesh soils. The importance
of S and Zn for rice culture was recognized during early eighties. Gypsum, zinc sulphate and zinc
oxy-sulphate were then introduced to supply these nutrients. During mid nineties, the deficiencies
of Mg, B and Mo in some soils and crops were reported (BARC, 1997).

It is worthwhile to mention here that prior to 1990, only TSP was used by the farmers of the
country as a source of P because it was the only P containing fertilizer available in the market at
that time. Afterr 1990, SSP was introduced as an alternative source of P in our fertilizer market.
DAP, the another source of P is at present a popular fertilizer due to containing N (BARC, 2012).
The trend in fertilizer nutrient use in Bangladesh is depicted in Figure - 1.

Table-3: Fertilizer sales (ton) by product and year from 1980-81 to 2010-2011 in Bangladesh.

Year Urea TSP SSP DAP MP Gypsm Zinc AS Others Total

1980-81 559.766 215.061 - 41.736 45.204 - 183.00 - 13.229 875.179
1985-86 794.496 297.418 - 53.00 59.867 3.269 706 - 178 1155.987
1990-91 1323.397 514.761 12.120 - 149.761 101.782 2.743 2.763 211 2107.538
1995-96 2045.535 111.095 596.881 - 155.881 103.577 1.029 8.692 - 3022.690
2000-01 2121.096 399.428 138.589 90.077 123.788 102.260 3.006 13.020 - 2991.264
2010-11 2657000 592000 - 323000 494000 135000 42000 8800 82000 4333800
Source: Monthly report FDI-II and ATDP/IFDC and MoA, MMI/DAE

Table-4. Trend in fertilizer nutrient use in Bangladesh (kg/ha/yr)

Country 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2009

Bangladesh 48 73 98 140.5 151 249.4

Integrated Plant Nutrient Management System (IPNS) in Bangladesh:

Soil degradation in relation to soil fertility has been presumably the greatest ill effect of the green
revolution type of agriculture started in late sixty. Depletion of soil fertility in Bangladesh soils is
happening as a consequence of crop cultivation without replenishing adequate plant nutrients in
soil after their removal owing to crop production. The two strategies i.e. the increase of cropping
intensity and yield per crop for increasing national crop production to ensure food security of the
country will exert more pressure on soil nutrients reserves and inherent low organic matter content
of most of the soils of the country. With time these valuable components of our soils is declining
because of poor attention for their improvement and management. Besides, the addition of
farmyard manures, composts and crop residues has not yet been considerably increased due to that
major portion of these organic materials is used as fuel by the rural population. The low and
declining organic matter content are regarded as one of the reasons for low productivity of many
soils of the country. The need for proper soil organic matter management cannot be
overemphasized in view of the low organic matter content in most soils. A judicious integration of
inorganic fertilizers with organic residues including green manure may be a possible option for
higher sustainable crop production in Bangladesh (Bhuiyan, 2001).

In the perspective of stagnating or declining in crop yield and environmental degradation resulting
from continuous and irrational use of chemical fertilizers under intensive cropping system, it is
being advocated to adopt the integrated plant nutrient management system (IPNS) by means of
judicious combination and application of inorganic fertilizers, organic manures and bio-fertilizers.
The basic objective of IPNS is to use all possible organic sources available in the farm to supply
plant nutrients which in turn reduce the dependence on the use of chemical fertilizers for achieving
sustainable and environmentally sound agriculture. The elements of IPNS include chemical
fertilizers, animal manures, FYM, compost, crop residues, green manure, azolla, rhizobium etc.

Activities to Disseminate IPNS:

IPNS is not commonly practiced by farmers of Bangladesh. To disseminate IPNS as

technology for preventing soil resource degradation due to intensive use of soil nutrient
reserves without proportionate replenishment of nutrients, several measures have taken by
different department and institutes under the policy guidance of the Government.

 Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) has prepared a National Fertilizer

Recommendation Guide to rationalize the application of fertilizers for different crops
and cropping patterns cultivated commonly in different AEZ.
 Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) has generated an exclusive database of
plant nutrients by analyzing more than 50,000 soil samples collected from different
location of the country through semi-detailed soil survey. This database is now under
the process of updating. Location specific fertilizer for different crops and cropping
patterns can be recommended using this data included in land and Soil Resource
Utilization Guide prepared for different upazila (sub-district). Srdi also provides soil
test based fertilizer recommendation and Soil Health Card to the farmers.
 An on going EU funded national project ‘Food Security,- Soil Fertility Component
2006” in which NGOs are involved in demonstrating the benefits of balanced
fertilization and organic residue application (FYM, compost and vermicompost ) to
the farmes in their field. Earlier during the period of 1999-2004, Department of
Agriculture Extension (DAE) conducted such type of project “ Integrated Soil
Fertility and Fertilizer Management” funded by DANIDA.
 BARC has prepared a guideline for land suitability assessment and criop zoning by
using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.\
 Motivation campaign against improper land use and imbalanced use of fertilizer in
the press and electronic media.

Nutrient Management for Cropping System:

Depending on agro-ecological conditions and irrigation facilities, there are large number
cropping system in Bangladesh. These cropping systems are essentially intensive and also
rice based so that exploitive. Soil nutrients depletion therefore is occurring at very faster
rate. Although land type, soil characteristics, irrigation and rainfall are considered as basic
resource base for a cropping system, but ultimately productivity of the system is determined
by soil and management factors that directly affect the growth of the crops in cropping
system. Long term soil fertility monitoring with plant nutrient management under specific
cropping system particularly at farmers field is necessary to determine as well as to
disseminate a better soil management program for sustained productivity.

Anticipated Climate Change Effect on Bangladesh

The geographical location and topographic setting of Bangladesh renders it one of the most
disaster prone countries of the word. Most of the coastal areas of the country and the
associated inland of Khulna and Barisal divisions lie within only 1-m from the sea level
where incursion of saline water is common. It has been reported that a one meter rise in sea
level would inundate 17% of Bangladesh. Meteorological records indeed showed that the
mean south-west monsoon (June-October) as well as post-monsoon (October_November
global average. Also, the annual mean maximum temperature has risen by 0.6 0C, while,
more alarmingly, the annual mean minimum as well as the winter (December-February)
mean minimum temperature has increased by 0.3 0C over the same period. Extreme yearly
fluctuations in rainfall were observed since 1961 and the 5-year average indicates and
increasing trend in the amount of rainfall. The projected global warming and climate
changes will affect Bangladesh’s agriculture, food security and livelihood. Higher
temperature and water stress due to heat would affect vegetation and agricultural
production in drought prone north western (Briand) Bangladesh. Monsoon rainfall is
feared to increase by 27%, which would result in increased flooding and sedimentation of
central and coastal floodplains, making them less productive over time. Aout 7-16% of the
coastal land area is projected to go under water, resulting in loss of grazing lands, directly
affecting the livestock sector. Frequency of natural disasters is likely to increase during the
present century. Only in 2007, two successive floods within a time gap of about 6-8 weeks,
followed by the cyclone Sidr within just another two months, are indications of systems,
affected the livelihood of the people, particularly the poor, and plunged the whole country
into a state of deep food insecurity.

The increase in temperature will shorter our winter season and the productivity of some
crop will be greatly affected. From research finding it was observed that

 The chickpea yield was reduced by 1-58% at different AEZ due to delay sowing i.e.
15 December sown instead of 15 November.
 Wheat and lentil yield was reduced by 30% and 55% respectively, due to delay
sowing. High temperature reduced reproductive stage of delay sown rabbi crops,
which caused reduced yield.
 The result indicated that the yield of heat sensitive crops will by greatly affected by
global warming. Boro rice might suffer from critical low temperature at different
development stages towards maturity. The most sensitive stages against the stresses
are agronomic panicle initiation (API) stage (24 days before heading), reduction
division (RD) stage (12-14 days before heading) and flowering / anthesis stage. The
critical low temperature is more or less growth stage specific. The time and
intensity of the critical low temperature during Boro season has a direct impact on
the growth and yield of a crop.
Announcement on Attending APIPNM-SCPI workshop 2
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 Fan Mingsheng-CAU
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Message flagged
Thursday, September 20, 2012 12:24 PM
Dear Guests,
 Please find the attached workshop program with hotel address and Chinese map, and phone
number of Contact People.
the page
We will pick you up at airport whenever your flight arrives on time or delays. Thus please notice
with your name, which my student will hold, at the first exit of the airport after your
collecting baggage.   
In case that you do not find my student, what you do is to call 13811990937, and wait to be looked
at area of the first exit.
 The following is air temperature in Beijing from Sept. 24 to 29. Anyway, now Beijing is in
autumn, a very nice season to visit.
 Sept. 24: 14～ 26℃
Sept. 25: 14～ 26℃,
Sept. 26: 15～ 26℃
Sept. 27: 15～ 25℃
Sept. 28: 10～ 17℃ (Raining)
Sept. 29: 11～ 24℃
 
Please do not hesitate to let me know, if you have any question.
 
BTW, please let me know if it is ok the flight ticket cost is reimbursed with Chinese Yuan (Then you can exchange it
into other currency what you expect in Bank or Airport). For CAU side, very complicated and long procedures are
involved if your flight ticket cost was reimbursed with US$.
 
See you in Beijing .
 
Best Regards
Mingsheng
 
Dr. Fan Mingsheng
College of Agriculture Resource and Environmental Sciences
China Agricultural University
Beijing, 100193, China
E-mail: [email protected];
Tel：+86-10-62731661
Fax：+86-10-62731016